Seong-Jin Cho (photo by Harald Hoffman) and Catherine Russell both perform with the Symphony next season.

THIS WEEK, THE Houston Symphony and music director Juraj Valčuha shared the details for the symphony’s 2023-24 season. Now in his second season as music director, Valčuha has endeared himself to the musicians and audiences, be they long-standing subscribers or totally new to the rule of not clapping in-between movements, perhaps drawn to programming that has included a healthy dose of contemporary music. Then again, Houston audiences are pretty much up for whatever when it comes to the concert hall, and Valčuha has more than enough variety planned for 2023-24 to surprise and engage anyone with an open set of ears.

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Kendrick Scott (photo by Justin Bettman)

POST-PANDEMIC, HOUSTON-born drummer Kendrick Scott is keeping busy. On March 3, Scott released Corridors, his third album for the iconic jazz label Blue Note Records, with fellow Houstonian Walter Smith III on tenor saxophone and Reuben Rogers on upright bass. Historically, the piano-less trio has inspired several groundbreaking albums in the jazz canon, and Corridors is indeed experimental, though pensive in its mood.

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McKinley and Murrah

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL’S comedic cantata Clori, Tirsi, e Fileno, subtitled Cor fedele in vano speri (“A faithful heart hopes in vain”), tells the story of two shepherds in love with a beautiful nymph. For Ars Lyrica Houston’s Mar. 26 performance of this Baroque “mini-opera,” audiences may be surprised by what is a very contemporary yet historically accurate casting decision: The nymph’s role (Clori) will be sung by countertenor Key’mon Murrah, and soprano Lauren Snouffer and contralto Cecelia McKinley will sing the roles of the love-struck shepherds.

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